The first step in researching one's ancestry is to organize the information that you already have so that it's easier to expand from. Family record sheets and individual record sheets are ideal for this task. A family record sheet is used for listing basic facts and associations of a particular family. When listing more detailed information about one person, use an individual record sheet. You can find many variations of these and other forms by typing in "genealogy forms" in the search field of your favorite search engine. These forms are generally sufficient, however you may want to create your own if you desire fact fields that are particular to your research.
Should you choose to create your own form, the forms referenced above include at least the basics; full name, sex, dates and places of: birth, marriage, death, parent's names and their vital information ("vital" meaning birth and death information), siblings and their vital information and children's vital information. Other items that you may want to include are: Dates and places of religious events such as Baptism / Christening, First Communion, Confirmation, military service, etc.
It is indeed quite an accomplishment to obtain names, dates and places for your family genealogy. However, when one inquires further and gets more detailed information about an individual or family, the reward for one's self and for one's descendants will be priceless. Adding even the smallest tidbit of extra information adds valuable information in regards to who the person is or was that might never otherwise be documented for prosperity. This is why we encourage adding even more information to your forms, such as: personal characteristics, pictures, schools and churches attended, hobbies, sports participations, employment, organization membership, other accomplishments, past or post marriages, ancestral rumors and the list can go on and on. You don't need to share all this to the rest of the world, but it is suggested that you share this with your children and the rest of your descendants.
Once you have a good idea what kind of information you want to know and include on your forms, it's time to start asking questions of your immediate and then extended family. Don't automatically assume you know the answers. You just might be surprised at some of the answers to even your basic questions. This is why as genealogists we start our research at the bottom and work our way up or maybe it's better to say we start with the "now" and work our way to the "then". This tactic helps to prevent us from accidentally researching the wrong family line or researching in the wrong location. It is much better to take the time now to create a factually solid base of information than have to fix mistakes later.

The interview:
Eventually you will want to fill in the empty spaces of your forms or add new ones. Trying to get information from family about family can sometimes be more challenging than one might think. There are so many factors that can get in the way of a factual answer to a seemingly simple question. If possible, it is recommended to ask the same question from more than one person who may know the answer.
It may seem obvious, but asking questions from anybody and everybody who might know the answer is the way to go. Examples are: parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, great grandparents, great uncles and aunts, more distant relatives and godparents. An answer from one person is good, but getting the same answer from another person can validate your data. Of course a different answer than has been previously given can also be a very significant lead in obtaining the truth of someone's ancestry. Seemingly far-fetched family rumors can sometimes turn out to be very true! It is a good idea to follow all leads.
Then, it's all about the questions you ask. Don't expect someone to automatically volunteer important information for your research. It usually doesn't happen that way. The person you're questioning can have various reasons to not give you a correct answer, may have forgotten the answer or may need to be asked the question in a particular way to jog his or her memory. Asking to see a family photo album can be a great way to start the process. Pictures can spark a thousand memories.
Time is of the essence. Memories fade; It's a fact. Whether you're 24 or 74, memories or details of those memories will diminish over a period of time. So, the sooner you ask those important questions, the better. Most people don't like to think about it, but a genealogist also has to keep in mind that people don't last forever, at least not in a physical sense. Procrastination can lead to the loss of crucial information to your research. Sure, you may still be able to find information later, but will you ever know if you missed the chance to know the whole story? The story is what it's all about. Isn't it?
It is always imperative to eventually confirm information by obtaining corresponding documents when possible. If your family happens to be religious, a family Bible can be a significant source of important information; They tend to have prayer cards and other information that can at the very least give you a starting point for further research.

Purchase some genealogy software. Keeping all your information organized is so much easier this way. But, the most important reason for storing information on a computer is it can be backed up! You'll still have hard copies of a lot of your genealogy data, but ink fades, coffee spills, fires happen. If you keep your information on a computer, make back-ups routinely and keep at least one back-up copy somewhere else, like at a family member or friend's house. Periodically update that back-up copy as well.

After conducting the above organizational and fact-finding tasks you'll be ready to start the next steps in the genealogy process. Finding, requesting, obtaining and deciphering desired documents can be challenging, time consuming, sometimes disappointing, sometimes expensive, but most always rewarding. If you can imagine your genealogy as something akin to a jigsaw puzzle, but far more important, you will now embark on a journey that will be extremely self-rewarding.

Search Engines:
It's a good idea to obtain as much information for free as you can. There are web sites out there that enable you to search for references to your ancestors. Family Search (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is a great website and is free to search. They also have an extensive microfilm collection that can be instrumental in your research.  There are also many other great web sites out there that enable you to search for you ancestors. To keep your research from getting too confusing try sticking with just a few favorite web sites. Much of the information that they index is the same.
When searching these web sites, keep your search limited to one ancestor at a time and keep notes of what you find and where. This will help keep your information organized and prevent you from getting confused or overwhelmed. You may need to look very closely at the search results. The name of your ancestor may be spelled incorrectly, making it harder to locate them. This was normally caused by the person taking down the information of your ancestor made a mistake, misheard, or just didn't understand. This is routinely the case regarding U.S. census information and immigrant passenger information. Try variant spellings of the name of your ancestor if need be.

Message/Query Boards:
Message/query boards are great for posting concise family information or questions for others to view. If posted on a board specialized on location or surname, you will most likely receive replies to your query. Your replies can vary from folks who have answers to folks who are hoping you have their answers. There are many boards available on the internet.

Mailing Lists:
Mailing lists are great for just about anything regarding genealogy. Make sure when you subscribe to a mailing list, that you subscribe to one that's the most relevant to your research. Be as specific as you can when posting. These mailing lists also have searchable archives of past posts that may already have information you are looking for. Most of the people that are frequently posting on these lists are very knowledgeable in their area of expertise. Through the use of mailing lists you can find out all sorts of information that may help you.

Sourcing:
Source everything! A source is simply a reference to where you found or how you can prove your genealogy data. For example: If you found out that your uncle was in the military, write down who told you that or on what document it is listed. Without source information you can't verify that your information is correct.

Family Trees:                                                                                                                                                                          A family tree is generally the totality of 'ones ancestors represented as a tree structure, or more specifically, a chart used in genealogy. The image of the tree probably originated with one in medieval art of the Tree of Jesse, used to illustrate the Genealogy of Christ in terms of a prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah, 11, 1). Possibly the first non-Biblical use, and the first to show full family relationships rather than a purely patrilineal scheme, was several family trees of the classical gods in Boccaccio's Genealogia deorum gentilium (On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles), whose first version dates to 1360. From the earliest manuscript copies the trees are included, and they were probably part of the original work.
The longest family tree in the world is probably Descent of Elizabeth II from the Romans. There are at least two genealogy sites that provide an excellent starting point for finding existing branches of your Family Trees.                                                                                                        They are Ancestry.com and RootsWeb.com

Voter Registration is a valuable resource often overlooked by genealogists. At the least, it may provide an address of your ancestors between census records.
For additional tips, including a Genealogy Encyclopedia with important information, CLICK HERE.

If you haven't found family trees online:
If no one has traced your family or if the family information has not been placed on the Internet, you won't be able to find family trees online. Unfortunately, a lot of ancestor research has not been placed on the genealogical Web sites.
The next best thing to do is to use census, birth, death and other records to find more on your ancestry.

The Genealogy Home Page  

Enter your ancestor information just once to search for family trees at multiple online genealogy databases. The site also includes hints for searching family history online.

The Olive Tree Genealogy